Musicology – Thursday

Musicology – Thursday

As our camp comes to a close, students worked to solve unanswered questions and finish up engineering projects. In the morning, students queried “what is music?” and worked on breaking down/ creating harmony and dissonance using electronic keyboards. Students also dissected harmonicas to discover how they and other reed instruments function. In the afternoon, students worked to automate their hand-pipe machines using a wheel-and-axel and conducted an experiment to demonstrate the effectiveness of digital vs. analog signal transmission.

Ask you students:

What did the observations from the videos add to your understanding of how a harmonica works? (Answers will vary)

What was the content of the first recording ever made? (Thomas Edison reenacting Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Book Recommendation: Echo By Pam Munoz Ryan

Grades 5-8

From Amazon: “Lost and alone in a forbidden forest, Otto meets three mysterious sisters and suddenly finds himself entwined in a puzzling quest involving a prophecy, a promise, and a harmonica.

Decades later, Friedrich in Germany, Mike in Pennsylvania, and Ivy in California each, in turn, become interwoven when the very same harmonica lands in their lives. All the children face daunting challenges: rescuing a father, protecting a brother, holding a family together. And ultimately, pulled by the invisible thread of destiny, their suspenseful solo stories converge in an orchestral crescendo.”